oscarslr
New member
Here is what I could say is the worst pest out there for an SPS tank.
I have never acquired them but have come close once. I have taken a few pics from threads to show examples
The bugs
The eggs
The damage
They will ultimately attack every acro and completely ruin your stock
Why are they so difficult:
Hard as all heck to see on SPS, almost invincible
Most traditional dips will not kill AEFW and no known way (proven long term) to kill eggs
Eggs have a 28 day incubation period that would make it hard to know you have them until it is too late
There is no known way (proven long term) to treat a whole system at once
Only a handful of successful stories of complete elimination of AEFWs
A system must be free of Acros for a few months before you can starve the AEFW colony
How to prevent the bugs
Careful examination, question everything, one Acro is not worth your whole stock
Eggs will not be laid on healthy Acro flesh, only on rock, plugs, or dead Acro skeletons so remove all rocks, plugs, and only place healthy SPS tissue into your tank when you have a colony/frag at question
Quarantine Tanks, but few people have these tanks or choose to utilize these tanks. This would require at least 5 weeks of quarantine referring back to the egg incubation period
Aggressive and longer Dips. Use the strongest solutions and go heavy and long on the dose and dip times. Shake and observe carefully, they are very hard to see
I use this:
Its a bit outside the box but there is a great thread on the SPS forum that i followed. I have used it for almost 8 months and have had success both preventing pest and keeping the treated SPS healthy.
Hope this helps and I hope no one in Tucson gets them because it is a terrible pest, spreads very fast and easy.
I have never acquired them but have come close once. I have taken a few pics from threads to show examples
The bugs
The eggs
The damage
They will ultimately attack every acro and completely ruin your stock
Why are they so difficult:
Hard as all heck to see on SPS, almost invincible
Most traditional dips will not kill AEFW and no known way (proven long term) to kill eggs
Eggs have a 28 day incubation period that would make it hard to know you have them until it is too late
There is no known way (proven long term) to treat a whole system at once
Only a handful of successful stories of complete elimination of AEFWs
A system must be free of Acros for a few months before you can starve the AEFW colony
How to prevent the bugs
Careful examination, question everything, one Acro is not worth your whole stock
Eggs will not be laid on healthy Acro flesh, only on rock, plugs, or dead Acro skeletons so remove all rocks, plugs, and only place healthy SPS tissue into your tank when you have a colony/frag at question
Quarantine Tanks, but few people have these tanks or choose to utilize these tanks. This would require at least 5 weeks of quarantine referring back to the egg incubation period
Aggressive and longer Dips. Use the strongest solutions and go heavy and long on the dose and dip times. Shake and observe carefully, they are very hard to see
I use this:
Its a bit outside the box but there is a great thread on the SPS forum that i followed. I have used it for almost 8 months and have had success both preventing pest and keeping the treated SPS healthy.
Hope this helps and I hope no one in Tucson gets them because it is a terrible pest, spreads very fast and easy.
